1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an assembly having a structure for clamping the harnesses that extend from the substrates having electric/electronic circuitry or that extend around the substrates, and an image-forming machine.
2. Description of the Related Art
Precision electronic equipment such as a printer includes, for example, a main substrate having a control unit for the whole device such as CPU, an operation panel substrate, a sub-substrate for controlling a printer drive unit, and other substrates. These substrates are connected together through a harness of the power source system and a harness of the signal system in an electronic/electric equipment.
The harnesses extend on the substrates or inside the device, and are fixed so will not to interfere with other members. Due to vibration of the drive unit, however, the members covering the harnesses may be abraded or damaged by the frame, and a fire may break out or a malfunction may occur if the core members of the harnesses come in contact with the frame due to wear or damage. A variety of fixing methods have been proposed for fixing the harnesses. For example, a clip with a bundling portion is fixed at its one end to the device and has a harness-bundling portion at the other end thereof. The clip is inserted in a clip hole formed in a suitable portion of the device, and the harnesses are bundled and fixed by the clip having the bundling portion. Another fixing means may be a band with washer. A screw is inserted in a hole of the washer, the band with washer is fixed into a screw hole formed in a suitable place of the device or appliance, and the harnesses are bundled by the foldable band portion.
A harness-clamping portion may be further formed by machining an existing part without using a dedicated fixing member to fix the harnesses.
According to a technology disclosed in JP-A-2003-204409, resin ribs are formed on the inner surface of a casing of a printer to reinforce the casing, a recessed portion is formed in the gap between the casing and the reinforcing ribs on the inside of the casing by utilizing the reinforcing ribs, and the inside of the recessed portion is utilized as a harness-receiving portion.
According to a technology disclosed in JP-A-2005-093734, a plurality of notches are formed in the edge portion of the circuit board on which electronic parts are mounted, and a through hole is formed in the circuit board. The harnesses connected to the circuit board are hooked by the notches so as to be clamped to the circuit board. Or, the harnesses are passed through the hole so as to be clamped to the circuit board.